Minnesota Wild - Florida Panthers predictions and free betting tips [13/10/2023]

Another intriguing NHL match awaits us this weekday. On Friday, 13 October the clash between the Minnesota Wild and the Florida Panthers is set to take place at the Xcel Energy arena. Let's examine the potential outcomes of the match.

Minnesota

Last season, the Wild posted a 46-25-11 overall record, accumulating 103 points. With that record, they were ranked 6th in the West. However, per tradition, their playoff run ended in the first round. After a 6-game series, they were defeated by Dallas (2:4). There were almost no changes in the roster during the offseason. They remain in a difficult position due to the buyouts of Parise and Suter, hence the only acquisition for the team was bolstering their fourth line.

Minnesota had a better preseason than any other team in the Central Division. They managed to collect 10 points over 6 games, suffering a single loss to Dallas (1:6).

Florida

Last season, the Panthers showed impressive results. The team barely managed to make it to the playoffs through the wild-card route. After a season like that, big victories were not expected from them, but to everyone's surprise, they confidently made it to the Stanley Cup finals, where they were defeated by Vegas (1:4). The preseason didn't bode well for the Panthers, same as the last season. The team finished 5th in the Atlantic Division, collecting 8 points over 8 games. Few expected such an outcome from the team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals.

The team loaded up on defenders during the offseason to cover for injured Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. There is hope that Bobrovsky will again be a star in the goal, and Matthew Tkachuk will perform at the Hart Trophy level.

Head-to-head

The teams met twice last season. The Panthers came out victorious in both matches. Firstly, they won with a score of (5:3), and then narrowly claimed victory via a shootout (2:1).

Prediction

In the upcoming game, it's quite challenging to favour any team. Minnesota didn’t strengthen their lineup in the offseason, but had an impressive preseason. The opposite happened with Florida, who patched up their defence but had a mediocre preseason performance. In this particular matchup, I would suggest placing a bet on total under (6.5), as the inaugural matches usually aren't high-scoring, with many teams still finding their form. Furthermore, both teams didn’t score heavily during the preseason.